Milton Helps Lift the Sparks
Lisa Leslie was scoreless in the second half and finished with 12 points. Mwadi Mabika, recovering from a sprained left ankle, made only three of 11 shots. The Sparks shot 35.3% from the floor and 63.6% from the free-throw line.
None of it did the Utah Starzz any good.
It seems no matter how bad the Sparks are at the beginning of the game or how ragged they are at the end, they are able to beat Utah, just as they did Thursday with a 75-67 win before 14,823 at the Delta Center.
The Sparks took a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference finals because DeLisha Milton came off the bench and led all scorers with 17 points. She was most instrumental the first seven minutes in the second half, when she scored 13 points, among them two consecutive three-pointers to push the Sparks ahead, 44-37, and break open what was a close game.
“I just took the shots that were given to me,” said Milton, who made three of five three-point attempts. “[Utah center Margo] Dydek was the person guarding me and we know she rarely leaves the middle. It’s a good thing I worked on my three-point shooting in the off-season.”
Also crucial was Tamecka Dixon, who scored all of her 13 points in the second half despite being saddled with five fouls.
“The key with us is we have an offensive threat at every position,” said Dixon, one of five Sparks to score in double figures. “You have to play an almost perfect defense to stop us one-on-one because we’re either going to get a shot for ourselves or create one for another teammate.”
The Sparks can wrap up the best-of-three series Saturday in Los Angeles if the Starzz don’t solve the defensive schemes the Sparks utilize or maintain their poise under fire.
The Sparks forced 21 turnovers by shutting off passing lanes and blocking shots (10). No Utah player was more frustrated than Adrienne Goodson, who made only two of 15 shots and scored seven points. On four occasions Goodson drove through the lane and thought she had an easy layup, only to have the shot rejected by Leslie or Milton.
And once the Sparks--who led, 34-32, at the half--got their second-half lead as high as 16 points (65-49), the Starzz, who shot only 37.1%, collapsed under the weight of bad passes, bad shots and bad judgment.
“We had an opportunity to win tonight,” said Starzz forward Natalie Williams, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds. “We have to cut down on our turnovers. Against a team that good we have to cut them at least in half. That’s one thing that broke the camel’s back right there.”
Added Starzz guard Marie Ferdinand: “Our offense is meant to pass and cut. It’s not a lot of dribbling. We dribbled the ball a lot, and that’s one of the reasons we turned the ball over.”
Ferdinand scored 13 points but had six turnovers.
The Sparks might have expected the Starzz to be drained after three tough games against Houston. But Utah, if anything, was galvanized by its first-round victory.
“We were prepared for this by those three games with Houston,” Coach Cindi Harvey said. “That was better than practicing each other. It was an advantage having to play a good offensive team like Houston to get ready for a better offensive team like L.A.”
The Sparks appeared rusty from their four days off. They missed 16 of their first 20 shots, blowing layups and 18-footers. Their situation grew more worrisome when Dixon, who had the thankless job of keeping up with Ferdinand, had four fouls in less than 12 first-half minutes.
But the Starzz couldn’t break away. Their biggest lead was 20-14 with 10:47 left in the half.
“After that, I thought we had a good chance,” said Spark Coach Michael Cooper. “I had been concerned about our legs and wind as far as game conditioning. But we hung in there.”
A 13-4 run put the Sparks ahead, 27-24, and the Sparks kept the lead the rest of the half. Teasley picked up the offensive slack for Dixon, scoring 10 points of her 11 points.